‘I Am Being Detained’: CNN Reporter Narrates Encounter With Police During Live Hit
CNN National Correspondent Jason Carroll narrated his interaction with police in Los Angeles on Monday night, as cops escorted him away from where he had been reporting.
The network was reporting on the ongoing protests and subsequent police and military response in Los Angeles, which has been the scene of several demonstrations over the last four days. On Friday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents carried out raids in the city’s garment district to scoop up migrant workers. They also conducted a raid outside a Home Depot to look for undocumented laborers there as well. The actions are part of President Donald Trump’s nationwide mass deportation effort.
On Monday night, Carroll reported from a protest during an extended edition of Laura Coates Live, and wrapped up his report without incident. However, moments later, host Laura Coates, who was in the studio, suddenly went back to her colleague on the scene.
“Wait one second, John,” she said, interrupting CNN Chief Law Enforcement Analyst John Miller. “Hold on. I wanna– Jason, what’s going on? I hear you. Am I seeing Jason Carroll being– what happened? Jason?”
“I am being detained,” Carroll answered. “I’m being detained, Laura.”
Carroll then addressed the cops.
“I’m not being arrested, correct, officers?” he asked.
“Did you hear what he told you?” one of the officers asked Carroll.
“No,” Carroll replied.
“We’re letting you go, but you can’t come back,” the officer responded. “Because then if you come back in, then you go. Ok, please?”
“Ok, thank you, officer,” Carroll replied before addressing Coates again.
“If you guys can still hear me, what happened was, I was–” Carroll said before being interrupted by a witness.
“I’m Chris with The New York Times,” a man told Carroll. “We got video of you guys. If you need it later, call The New York Times.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Carroll said before returning to his conversation with Coates.
“So here’s what happened, Laura,” he said. “I was called over, and the officer told me to put my hands behind my back. I said, ‘Am I being arrested?’ He said, ‘You are being detained.’ I was walked out of the area. They took down my information.”
Carroll’s audio suddenly cut out, and Coates turned to Miller, who said police officers’ jobs have gotten more difficult when responding to protests because “you have anarchist groups and agitators who show up and say, ‘Well, I have a blog, so therefore I’m press. So therefore, even though I’ve been throwing bottles and screaming epithets, I’m not part of the protest. I want to be treated as media.’ So they sort through people one at a time.”
Over the objections of California Governor Gavin Newsom, the Trump administration has federalized 4,000 National Guard soldiers to respond to the protests. The state has sued, seeking an end to the deployment.
Watch above via CNN.
